NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that the Centre's economic stimulus package lacked provisions to compensate the losses incurred by farmers during the lockdown period, which has left no cash in their hands.
He said the package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is "more of the supply chain-centric" whose benefits will take longer time to reach farmers.
The former Union agriculture minister also suggested that the procurement price for food grains be decided after taking into consideration the net profit component, which he said would increase the efficiency of the package for farmers in a true sense.
"At the time of determining the prices of food grains, we do not consider the net profit on the final product. Unless we do it, farmers will never get proper rate for their produce," the former Union agriculture minister said.
Referring to the fiscal stimulus package, Pawar said it would take longer to trickle down benefits to farmers.
"Restructuring of crop loans ahead of Kharif season is paramount. Farmers have already incurred heavy losses during the lockdown, and they do not have cash in hand to make necessary purchases. No provision is made in the Centre''s package to these farmers for their losses," Pawar said.
He further said: "The government should clarify on how it is going ahead with its announced package in sectors such as animal husbandry, fishery, micro-food enterprises, apiculture among others".
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